How the Meetings Industry Can Help Stop Asian Hate Eventful: The Podcast for Meeting Professionals

Bizly's Kevin Iwamoto discusses why now is the time for meeting professionals to speak out.

Last week, a gunman killed eight people in Atlanta, six of whom were Asian-Americans, but this was not an isolated incident; according to the nonprofit organization Stop AAPI Hate, nearly 3,800 incidents of violence and discrimination against Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders were reported over the past year. As it has grown increasingly urgent to address these issues, members of the meetings industry have raised their voices about what actions our community can take. Prominent among these voices is Kevin Iwamoto, chief strategy officer of the event planning platform Bizly, who spoke with Northstar Meetings Group's associate editor Elise Schoening about the recent attacks, how fear of violence might make Asian Americans less likely to travel or attend events, and the continued lack of diversity within the meetings industry. On this episode of Eventful: The Podcast for Meeting Professionals, Iwamoto discusses how members of the meeting industry can help support the AAPI community (4:45), his own experiences with discrimination (9:45) and why leaders in the industry must speak up about these issues now (12:30). Listen to the in-depth conversation in our latest episode of Eventful: The Podcast for Meeting Professionals, and remember to subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, Google Podcasts and anywhere else you listen to podcasts. And be sure to register for Northstar's upcoming webcast, Diversity Now: How to Plan a Truly Inclusive Meeting, taking place April 21 at 2 p.m. EDT. Learn more at northstarmeetingsgroup.com/DiversityNow
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